Sindh - Атлас этнических региональных автономий - Сеть по исследованию идентичности

Description of the autonomy

One of the four provinces of Pakistan, Sindh is located in the south-east of the country on the border with India. Sindh is one of the most important and successful regions regarding economic development; its administrative center - Karachi - has long been the capital of the country. Sindh delivers the most significant share of revenues to the federal budget but does not benefit from the centralized redistribution as, for example, the state of Punjab.

The titular ethnic group in Sindh is Sindhi (also Sindi) that comprises about 60% of the province's population. Sindhi speak a language that is different from the rest of the country. Some of the Sindhi are adherents of Zoroastrianism and Hinduism, but mostly they profess Islam of the Sunni type. In the territory of the region, Sindhi tend to live in rural areas, while cities, especially Karachi, are inhabited by Muhajirs - Urdu-speaking people from North and West India who moved to Pakistan after the partition of British India in 1947. There are Pashtuns and Punjabis, Baluchis, and Gujaratis also.

Specificity of the regional political process is linked to the dominance of the Pakistan People's Party in provincial politics, one of the two main parties on the national level. At the same time, the Muhajirs political party is active as well. Relations between Sindhi and the Mukhajirs are tense. The Mukhajirs aspire to occupy a dominant position in the bureaucratic and entrepreneurial spheres; they also demand to make Urdu the only official language in the country. Also, there are conflicts between the provincial, regional government and the Pakistani central government, mainly regarding the allocation of federal budget funds.

Autonomy's characteristics

Year of the creation of the autonomy:

Geographic

Where is the autonomy situated:
Autonomy area: km²
Share of the autonomy in the area of the country: %
Autonomy population:the latest census thousands of people
Share of the autonomy in the population of the country: %

Country's characteristics

Level of economic development of the country:GDP per capita in 2015 in current price in $ in $
Political regime in the country:It is based on the Freedom House Index, 2015. All countries of the world are located on a scale from 1 (most free) to 7 (least free). Countries whose ratings fall between 1.0 and 2.5 are “Free”, between 3.0 and 5.0 are "Partly Free," and those between 5.5 and 7.0 are "Not Free."

Economic

Share of the autonomy in the economy of the country:GRP of the autonomy divided to GDP of the country (%) %
Level of economic development of the autonomy:relative to the country (%): GRP per capita of the autonomy divided to GDP per capita of the country %

Ethnic

Share of the dominant in the country ethnic group in the population of the autonomy:in %: population size of the dominant in the country ethnic group divided to overal population size of the autonomy (the latest census; expert estimations) %
Share of the titular ethnic group in the population of the autonomy:in %: population size of the titular ethnic group of the autonomy divided to overal population size of the autonomy (the latest census; expert estimations) %
Ethnic peculiarity:It indicates a key characteristic of autonomy's ethnic identity - language or religion or both
Diversity of ethnic composition:The presence of other (in addition to the titular group in the autonomy and the dominant group in the country) significant ethnic groups in the population of the autonomy

Political

Degree of self-rule of the autonomy:It is based on the Regional Authority Index project that aims at measuring the powers of all the regions in 81 countries. Here the index "tier_selfrule" (2010) is used. It summarizes five dimensions of self-rule: institutional depth; policy scope; fiscal autonomy; borrowing autonomy; and the extent to which a region has an independent legislature and executive. The index takes value from 0 to 18
Degree of shared-rule of the autonomy:It is based on the Regional Authority Index project that aims at measuring the powers of all the regions in 81 countries. Here the index "tier_sharedrule" (2010) is used. It summarizes five dimensions of shared-rule: participation of a region in national law-making; intergovernmental meetings; the distribution of national tax revenues; borrowing; and constitutional change. The index takes value from 0 to 12
The presence of the "kin-state":"Kin-state" is a state whose main population shares the ethnic characteristics of the titular ethnic group of the autonomy
Linguistic preferences:It indicates how the language of the titular ethnic group of the autonomy is learned in secondary schools in the autonomy
Ethnic conflicts:It indicates whether the serious conflicts between the autonomy and the central government as well as between ethnic groups within the authority take place in 2001-2015. The level of conflict is determined on the basis of the annual reports of Conflict Barometer